The Supreme Court will decide whether a cross in the middle of a Maryland highway can stay. The cross is a World War I memorial, but some folks say it means the city of Bladensburg unfairly favors Christians.

For years, Steven C. Lowe thought a 40-foot-tall concrete cross near his home was odd. He didn’t realize it was a memorial. A plaque lists the names of 49 area residents who died in World War I, but it isn’t easily read from the road—and getting to the monument requires dashing across traffic.

In 2014, Lowe, two other area residents, and a group of atheists and agnostics from the American Humanist Association sued over the cross. They argue that the cross’ location on public land violates part of the First Amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.”

The group lost the first round in court. But in 2017, an appeals court ruled the cross was unconstitutional. Now, supporters are asking the Supreme Court to overturn that ruling. Justices will hear the case tomorrow.

Backers of the nearly 100-year-old cross, also called the “Peace Cross,” say if the justices rule against them it could threaten hundreds of monuments nationwide. Opponents argue that the cross should be moved to private property or changed into a nonreligious shape such as a slab.

Similar monuments have gotten mixed rulings from the high court. In 2005, the court upheld a Ten Commandments monument on the grounds of the Texas state capitol but struck down Ten Commandments displays in Kentucky courthouses the same day.

Monument backers just want the Maryland war memorial left alone. Veteran Stan Shaw actually calls changing or removing the cross “a slap in a veteran’s face.”

Why do you believe people find crosses so offensive? Do you think using the cross as a memorial violates the U.S. Constitution?

(Visitors walk around the Maryland Peace Cross dedicated to World War I soldiers in Bladensburg, Md. AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)

Sorry you are not allowed to publish comments. If this is the first time you are seeing this message
please log out and back in. If you continue to see this message and believe this to be in error please reach out to member services.

Most recent comments

JH

Bethany H

Hmmm

Interesting. I think that maybe changing the shape of the monument or moving it to private property may be a good idea. That monument represents an important part of history, so I don't think it should get torn down completely. (And @Bethany H, please comment on the article instead of just putting "First Comment." Not trying to be offensive or mean, it's just a reminder.)

Happy bday

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALAYNA E.!!!!!!!!! how old are you turning?

I would say just leave it alone or else move it to someone's property, but have it open to the public. Also, if that is violating the constitution, don't you think that pennies with "In God We Trust" written on them are also violating it?!?!?!

Bethany H

Sorry! I was going to comment something else, but I had to do something else first :D
@Alayna E: Happy Birthday!
Anyway, here is what I was going to comment :D
Why do these people keep finding things that might relate to religion and Christianity, and take that to court? Why not just leave that stuff alone, and if you are really worried about fairness between religions, just go make your own monuments?
Ok... just a couple of my thoughts on this article :D

also why are they going to

this is what the worldteen edotors posted .

Dear WORLDteen Readers
PERMALINK ON WED, 02/27/2019 - 15:26 | BY
Please do not use the comments area as a personal chat room or to simply compile the greatest number of postings. The comments function was not designed for that. It is provided as a service for readers to share feedback that is relevant to the news story and pertinent/appropriate for all readers. We appreciate your cooperation in making the comments a safe and relevant feature for the WORLDteen news site.
Thank you,
Your WORLDteen Editors

NA

im just trying to get thhe

By the way, everybody, in

By the way, everybody, in case you didn't check on the article, "when is gaming too much", Matthew H. just commented that the whole thing was made up by him!!! So I guess it's still ok to comment on there.

WORLDteen readers:

Recently a reader posted a comment posing as WORLDteen staff, so this message bears repeating:
Please do not use the comments area as a personal chat room or to simply compile the greatest number of postings. The comments function was not designed for that. It is provided as a service for readers to share feedback that is relevant to the news story and pertinent/appropriate for all readers. We appreciate your cooperation in making the comments a safe and relevant feature for the WORLDteen news site.
Please be aware of and follow the WORLDteen website policies here: https://teen.wng.org/about/website_policies
Abuse of the comments feature may result in postings being deleted, or the reader’s commenting privileges being revoked.
Thank you,
Your WORLDteen Editors

(THIS IS ANDREW H.)

Dear WorldTeen and Teens,
I am the one who posed as the Staff, and I only meant to kid around. I am very, very sorry and I will change my behavior from now on. I am open to criticism; you are probably wondering why I did it. Well, to tell the truth, I was upset at seeing very lengthy and non-informal comments being posted, and so I decided to put a "stop" to it. WorldTeen, please do not revoke my commenting privileges because my brother and I share the same account. Yes, I know, it was un-user-like to pose as a Staff member. I am very sorry and you may expect me to be a better commenter.
-Andrew Herman

NA

Thank you Andrew.

Sarah H

The First Ammendment was established to prevent a state-sponsored church like the Church of England from happening in the United States. That doesn't mean tearing down a monument meant to honor U.S. soldiers because it displays the greatest symbol of freedom ever: the cross. If people are having such an issue with a war monument, then they have forgotten what this country was founded on and why men and women stand up to defend it.

WORLDteen provides reliable stories designed to strengthen your faith in a witty voice of clarity and wisdom you’ll find entertaining and useful. This site will cover a number of important topics, from science to technology and friendships to culture, including movies, music and books.